Historically, successful women have run the risk of being characterized as the “quintessential ‘bitch’ who is concerned not at all about others but only about herself". Women regarded as successful attract negative reactions that focus primarily on their interpersonal capabilities. Meryl Streep's character in The Devil Wears Prada is often used to illustrate the point. The supposed source of the character Streep portrays is Anna Wintour, who is described as having an aloof and demanding personality, earning her the nickname 'Nuclear Wintour'. Closer to home, Peta Credlin is characterized similarly.

While we might all be able to recognize this pattern, up to date research indicates that the sting doesn't come from women in senior roles.

But first: what is a Queen Bee? In organizations with few senior women, expectations about behaviour and style are firmly male. Women take care and men take charge. Queen Bee syndrome is used to describe the "bitch who stings other women if her power is threatened" and the term is used to blame senior women for not supporting other women.

The power of the dominant group is attractive. Where women are in the significant minority, there is enormous pressure to join with the majority group, which causes 'insider' women to become hostile to 'outsider' women. As a personal survival mechanism some women become as ‘unwomanly’ as possible and react with hostility to other women. They become part of the dominant group (men), sometimes take on dominant group member characteristics, and exclude members of the non-dominant group.  Queen Bees are seen to hold on to their power as the 'token woman' by denigrating other women as ‘emotional’, expressing anti-female attitudes, and avoiding female-focused programs and gatherings.

Such women who perform well in male gender-stereotyped roles are generally not liked: they attract negative reactions that focus primarily on their interpersonal capabilities, and their lack of warmth in particular. Both women and men see them as less desirable as bosses, compared with men described in similar ways.

In just-released research Dezso and colleagues examined the under-representation of women in the top executive teams of US S&P 1,500 firms over a 20 year period. They found that the presence of one woman in a top management team reduced, rather than increased, the chance that a second woman would be appointed to that team.

As that seems so counter-intuitive, they explored the potential causes further, and explicitly tested the Queen Bee hypothesis. Was it this syndrome that prevented a second woman getting into the top team? They examined organizations with a female CEO: according to Queen Bee syndrome, if the person with the top job is a woman, it should be less likely that another woman will be appointed to the top team. The reverse was in fact the case. A second woman was much more likely to be appointed to the top team if the CEO was a woman. In addition, firms appeared to hire women into senior management roles in response to actions by their female board members.
 

Where does the sting come from then? The researchers suggest an 'implicit quota'. They argue that firms gain legitimacy if they have women in top management. However, the marginal value they gain after one woman is appointed declines with each successive woman "whereas the perceived costs, from the perspective of the male majority in top management, may increase with each woman".

What can you do?

1. Accept a broad range of leadership styles.

2. Challenge the myth whenever you get the chance. Cite the research.

3. Support, and make supportive comments about, women who trail blaze.

 

It's been a year of great progress for gender-balanced leadership. Here are a few highlights:

Elizabeth Broderick and Helen Conway leave lasting legacies
While it's sad to see good people move on, we have much to celebrate in the legacies of Elizabeth Broderick and Helen Conway. Congratulations to you both.

Broderick stepped down from her role as Sex Discrimination Commissioner in September this year, and leaves a legacy that includes gaining support for paid parental leave, profiling discrimination during pregnancy, campaigning against domestic violence and creating the Male Champions of Change.

Helen Conway, as head of Workplace Gender Equality Agency, did an outstanding  job implementing the Agency's new legislation, reshaping its strategic focus, raising its profile and achieving acceptance for more strategic and meaningful standards of reporting on gender at work.

Male Champions of Change groups proliferate
Broderick commenced Male Champions of Change in 2010, and the program is designed to enable men "to step up beside women, not speaking for them, not saving them, but actually stepping up and accepting responsibility and accountability for gender equality". It's a welcome disruption that shifts the focus from women to gender.

Kate Jenkins, Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commissioner, commenced a Male Champions of Change group in Victoria, there's one in Queensland, and industry groups covering consulting engineers, architects, elite sports and property have likewise commenced this year. We look forward to more men actively engaging in the pursuit of gender balanced leadership.

The Hollywood spotlight shines on the Gender pay gap
The gender pay gap continues. That's not progress. But it is progress when CEOs like Benioff address pay imbalances directly, and WGEA's In Your Hands campaign has 87 Ambassadors for equal pay. The impassioned pleas of celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence to draw attention to the inequity, and the commitments of male stars like Bradley Cooper to make pay transparent and assist female co-stars to negotiate their pay,  help the cause. This positive fallout from the Sony hack, which exposed Hollywood pay inequities, certainly reinforces the importance of transparency.

Women excel in new fields
Michelle Payne won the Melbourne Cup, and responded with a rousing speech that stopped the country for longer that the horse race did.
Senator Marise Payne became Australia's first female Minister of Defence.
Science Editor-In-Chief Marcia McNutt became the first woman to lead the US National Academy Of Sciences.

Gender Representation in Politics
Led by Senator Nick Xenophon, a private members' Bill was introduced to Parliament to give teeth to the existing 40/40/20 government boards gender representation policy. The Parliamentary Committee concluded that "legislated targets for gender balance are not the best way to achieve this goal". While the Government rejected the Bill, there are some positives. Firstly, that there was such a Bill. Secondly, the importance of targets has been confirmed, as has the value of board diversity. Thirdly, increased public debate about targets and quotas helped to challenge the myth of merit.

The Australian Labor Party achieved its 40% target for women's representation and immediately starting pushing for 50%. The Liberal Party improved its gender balance somewhat, ending the year with five women in Cabinet. However, don't these achievements look less laudable when we see new Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau start straight out of the blocks with 50% women in his first Cabinet? How hard is it?

With Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorini still going strong in the US pre-selections, the US Presidential election could be a two woman race - we await developments with great interest.